Longing to Belong
by Kimberley J
Summary: Lt. Katrina Jenkins feels out of place on Atlantis, especially since Major Lorne seems to dislike her. What can she do to prove to him that she belongs on this mission and has a lot to contribute. Major Lorne/OC focus with the other cast members involved
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I have anything to do with Stargate or Stargate Atlantis. This is written purely for fun and no profit is being made.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE: ARRIVAL

Major Evan Lorne was in the Control Room with Colonel Carter and Dr. Zelenka having discussions about exploration. Lorne leaned back slightly his arms folded a stubborn look on his usually calm features. "I'm not saying you can't go exploring I'm just saying it would not hurt to take a couple of military personnel with you."

Radek Zelenka gave what could only be described as a small growl, his Czech accent strong with frustration. "So we are to be treated as children now with military babysitters?"

"It's not that and you know it," Remarked Lorne unfolding his arms and leaning forward. "The last several times people went exploring the city it did not exactly end well. I'm just looking out for everyone's interest."

Colonel Samantha Carter could tell that Zelenka was ready to argue again and held up her hands. "Enough. Zelenka, the major has a point. I'll allow you to check out the area but I want you to take two military personnel with you."

"Fine," Remarked Zelenka not looking happy in the slightest.

"Colonel Carter, this is Colonel Caldwell of Deadalus. We have reached orbit." The comm voice halted the discussion in the room. Colonel Carter pressed her ear piece.

"Colonel Caldwell this is a surprise. You're," She glanced at her watch, "Six hours early."

"Hermoid has been fiddling with the engine and we managed to pick up some time." Came the response. "I'm preparing to send down your new recruits, we'll then dock with the supplies from Earth."

"Understood, Colonel." Responded Carter looking at the two men with her. "Send them down when ready." She shook her head and switched off the comm. "How is it Alpha team always seems off-world when the new recruits arrive. You two able to handle the meet and greet?"

Both men looked at each other and grinned. "Not like we aren't used to it." Responded Lorne.

"Like McKay knows anyone's name anyway." Was Zelenka's contribution.

Sam smiled as a light emitted from the gate room indicating the arrival of the new members. "Well that's sorted then, shall we?" Each of the men picked up the laptop they had arrived with. Lorne saluted the Colonel and then followed her out the room.

* * *

Lieutenant Katrina Jenkins, or Kayjay as she was known to be called, blinked repeatedly as her green tinted hazel eyes adjusted to the change of light. The strange sensation of being beamed into the room was fading, though she did flex her fingers and toes to ensure that they were still intact. Only once she was satisfied that she was indeed whole and in one piece did she allow herself the opportunity to take in the wonder that surrounded her.

She and the fifteen other people that had arrived with her were standing in what she could only assume was the gate room. This assumption was based on the large circular structure with ancient symbols behind her. The iris was currently empty revealing the windows behind it which allowed sunlight to stream into the room. After three weeks of artificial light the natural light was more than welcome. The room was airy with a high wide ceiling with several passageways further up. Ahead of the small group a curving flight of stairs led up to what she understood was the command centre. It was here her perusal of the room was halted as three official looking people emerged from the control room and headed down the stairs. From the files Katrina know she was looking at Colonel Carter, Major Evan Lorne and Doctor Radek Zelenka.

"Welcome to Atlantis. I'm Colonel Carter Mission Commander." Remarked Colonel Carter as she came down the stairs. "I know you are all anxious to get settled in so if the scientists will please follow Dr. Radek Zelenka he will assign you your quarters and give you a run down of where everything is." She indicated to the slightly thinning man on her left. He looked over the group and gave a small smile indicating for the scientists to follow him. About half the group followed him out. "Military Personnel, if you will follow Major Lorne, he will give you a briefing and assign you to your groups. Unfortunately Colonel Sheppard is currently off-world or as your military commander he would give you the run down."

Major Lorne stepped forward and Kayjay considered him carefully. He had dark hair and dark eyes. He was not exceedingly tall but tall enough. There was definitely a strong commanding presence about him. Hanging toward the back of the group she followed the rest of the military group to a side room.

* * *

Lorne surveyed the eight individuals in front of him as he gave his briefing. He explained the room situation and areas of Atlantis that were and were not accessible. About fifteen minutes in he heard the gate activation sirens, a quick check however had shown everything was under control so he went back to his talk. The individuals in front of him were a slightly mixed group. Half already belonged to the SG program and already know the drill, the other half were new recruits to the program who had just recently completed their three month induction. Only one of them was of a real concern to him and she just happened to be the only female and only non-American in the group.

Lieutenant Katrina Jenkins sat toward the back of the group, her Australian flag patch standing out like a beacon amongst the start and stripes. She was quietly taking in what he was saying as well as doing her own observations of the group. It was not that Lorne was sexist – he knew more than a few very capable female soldiers. It was also not the fact she was from a different country – having been in Atlantis as long as he had he knew what others had to offer and some of his closest friends were not American. It was merely the fact that he had read her military history and was not sure what had prompted the officials to assign her to this mission. Granted she was smart, but the scientist here were more qualified. The majority of the military were here because they were good soldiers and were needed for security. Lt. Jenkins as far as he could tell was not a combat soldier. He saw the twenty-six year old as green desk jockey, that was here taking up the place of some other qualified soldier merely because she inherited the rare ATA gene. The Lieutenant had a lot to prove in Lorne's eyes.

He continued on telling the group that they could leave once he handed them out their team assignments. The four previously involved in the SG program were easy and were assigned to groups that would be going off-world. They were the first to leave the room. The other four would be assigned to Atlantis security and back up teams initially. He was finishing explaining this to them when he saw Colonel Sheppard poke his head in. He held up a hand indicating that he would be with him shortly and turned back to the group dismissing them. "Lieutenant Jenkins, would you remain behind please? As you have the ATA gene we have some other training issues that need to be discussed."

Lieutenant Jenkins halted in the process of picking up her duffel bag and nodded dropping it back to the floor running a hand through her blonde hair. She watched as the remaining soldiers left passing a tall dark haired Officer obscured by the door. She had been quietly contemplating the briefing while the Major had done his talk. He had seemed to make eye contact with everyone at least once during the talk and it was easy to tell that he already like the group that had been with the program for a while. She had noticed that his eyes had lingered on her quite often and Kayjay had the strangest notion that the Major did not like her for some reason.

As the remaining soldiers left the Officer entered the room and walked over to Lorne. "Lt. Jenkins this is Colonel Sheppard, Colonel this is one of the new recruits the one with the ATA gene. I was just about to go over the additional training with her."

Kayjay gave a nod to the attractive ranking officer of Atlantis smiling slightly as he sort of jumped onto a seated position on the nearby desk and sat forward. "Well then don't let me stop ya, Lorne." The Colonel chuckled quietly at the look he received from the Major.

Sighing slightly Lorne looked back at her. _'Yep'_ Kayjay thought _'He definitely doesn't like me.'_ She stood straighter waiting for her further instructions though she could not help but glance every now and then at the Colonel. What was he smiling about?

"As a holder of the ATA gene you will be given addition training on the puddle jumpers, additional weaponry and some of the Atlantian systems. In all honesty though the only thing you are ever likely to use in your time here is the puddle jumpers, which considering you have never had pilot training should be interesting." He handed her a sheet containing her training times. Kayjay accepted the sheet and then looked at the Major as he turned to walk away.

"You don't like me much do you sir?" Kayjay addressed her senior officer wondering where the courage had come from.

This seemed to halt the Major slightly in his steps. He turned around and seemed to stare her down. "It is not my job to like or dislike you Lieutenant. Its my job to make sure that you are trained in the necessary areas and are assigned to the correct groups. You are dismissed Lieutenant."

"So, that would be a no then," Kayjay remarked as she leaned down and picked up her bag. "It's okay, sir. I just like to know where I stand." She saluted the two men and then left the room swearing she could hear the Colonel chuckling behind her.

Major Lorne glared at the Lieutenants retreating back, "Insubordinate . . ." he did not finish the statement as Colonel Sheppard was chuckling as he slid down from the counter.

"I like her." He stated.

Lorne rolled his eyes. "You would." He remarked. "Fine you can train her on the puddle jumpers. Did I mention she has a fear of heights?" This comment seemed to wipe the smile temporarily of Sheppard's face.

"Did you find Teyla?" Lorne asked as he started gathering his things together.

The Colonel shook his head not looking happy. "Michael had already moved on. We were about thirty minutes to late."

"Don't worry Sheppard, we will get her back." Lorne stated tapping his friends arm.

"I know," replied Sheppard with a great deal of certainty before changing subject. "So these new recruits. Where have we put them?"

* * *

Authors Notes: Okay this is my first Stargate/Stargate Atlantis fan-fiction and its going to be a serial type story. Please review and comment. I take constructive critism well, after all how else am I meant to improve. Oh and I'm using Evan as Lorne's first name as that is what it is on IMDB.


	2. Chapter 2: Lunchtime Conversations

CHAPTER TWO: Lunchtime Conversations

The Cafeteria was busy but Lieutenant Jenkins still managed to find an empty table. It was not that she was an anti-social person, she just had several things she wanted to look over while she ate and time would be wasted on small talk if she shared a table. That however did not stop her from taking note of everything that was happening around her. At the table behind her a couple of Japanese analysts were discussing the best way to access the ancient database and convert it to a user friendly program. They seemed pretty excited about something.

Across from her a couple of young soldiers were talking about the latest American Football League. They obviously supported different teams and were debating the benefits of both. After something that his friend said the Latino soldier let fly with a string of curses that would make a normal person blush. Kayjay smiled as she stared at her laptop screen, currently showing the details behind the Puddle Jumper's inertial dampeners, wondering if the other soldier had a clue about what had just been said. A quick glance at his dumbfounded expression confirmed that he had no clue; the frown suggested he got the gist however. She chuckled quietly taking another bite of her chicken salad and going back to her research.

Kayjay had been on Atlantis several days now in which time she had been run pretty ragged. The additional training and orientation were not as easy as one would have would have thought and she had not yet been able to prove herself to Lorne. Of course driving the Puddle Jumper into the wall during her first lesson had not exactly helped. She had another lesson this afternoon and was determined to prove that she could handle the machine. It was one of the reasons she was currently reviewing the schematics and notes on the Jumpers. As a mechanical engineer she often found it easier to control things when she had an idea of what made them function.

Kayjay had just gotten to the section on the shields when a shadow fell over her. She looked up in slight surprise as Ronon, the large Satedan, sat down almost opposite her. She looked at him curiously for a few seconds after all in all her time here the two of them had never said two words to each other. She had seen him around the halls and watching the sparring at the gym, but she would have been surprised if he even knew who she was. Seeing as though he did not say anything to her and set about digging into his food Kayjay assumed he had just been looking for an empty seat and went back to her studying. As she munched on her salad she was beginning to get a gist of what exactly made the Puddle Jumpers work.

"So are you a combater or not?"

Kayjay paused taking a couple of moments to realise that the Satedan had actually spoken to her. "Excuse me?" She asked moving her eyes from the computer to look at the man across from her.

"He said you did not know combat, but I have seen you fight. You seem to know how to hold your own to me," Ronon stated between mouthfuls of food.

Kayjay just looked at him as she tried to understand what he was saying. It was not exactly cryptic but came from so far left field that she was struggling to keep up. 'He said you did not know combat'. Okay so was that Lorne? That would make sense and would explain why Lorne had a thing against her. One thing she had noticed about the soldiers here was that they did seem to have more than one tour of duty on the frontline. Something she could not exactly claim. Her one tour of accidental frontline had been cut short. However there was definitely a difference between combat and what she did in her sparring sessions. She smiled at Ronon, "I have studied Tae Kwan Do since the age of eleven, so I know something about fighting." She replied, "However I have only been on the front line once and it did not end so well."

"But you are still alive."

"Okay so it did not go badly but I did not come away unscathed." She popped in a piece of cucumber and considered Ronon thoughtfully. "But you would know something about fighting so you should understand what I mean about the difference between sparring and combat."

Ronon nodded but did not say anything. A knowing smile however slipped onto his features. "You should fight with me."

Kayjay almost choked on her last bit of chicken. "Is that a suggestion or an order, sir? 'Cause if it's a suggestion than thanks but my skin tone doesn't look so good in black and blue."

Ronon maintained the stony expression he usually portrayed, "I am not that bad."

Kayjay gave a small smile that got larger when she heard another reply coming up from behind her. "Tell that to the Marines that end up in my med bay."

Jennifer Keller, Atlantis' Chief Medical Officer sat down in a char next to Kayjay. Dr. Keller had been one of the few people that had been incredibly friendly to her since her arrival, but then she seemed to be friendly with everyone. At this point in time however she was giving Ronon a pointed look, the smile on her lips however negated any bad feelings.

"I can't help it if they don't learn," Ronon said with a soft smile at the doctor.

Keller just rolled her eyes causing Kayjay to laugh.

* * *

A couple of tables away Evan Lorne looked up at the sound of laughter. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly when he saw from where it was emitted. It was enough however for John Sheppard who was sitting opposite him to notice. He glanced over his shoulder and then back at the major. "Still don't like her?"

Lorne looked at Sheppard with a neutral expression. "Why does everyone think I dislike her?"

"If you are talking Lieutenant Jenkins then you do seem to be pushing her a bit more than the others. Shame, nice enough girl for a soldier and seems interested in the science behind things, which is unusual for one of your kind." This contribution was from Rodney McKay who was sitting down next to Sheppard with a tray full of food for two people. He looked at Sheppard's plate. "They had cake? I didn't see any cake. Are you going to eat that?"

Sheppard automatically put his hand over his slice of cake but did not look at McKay, his gaze remaining on Lorne. "Despite Mr. Babble over here going on and on . . ."

"Hey!" Exclaimed Mckay and again he was ignored to which he mumbled to himself.

". . . He was right about you being slightly tougher on Jenkins then some of the other new people." Sheppard finished.

"I am not." Lorne declared defensively then frowned slightly, thinking, "Am I?"

Sheppard just gave him a small pointed look causing Lorne to review his actions.

"Is she that far behind the others?" Asked McKay in between shovelling food into his expanding mouth.

"No, she completed every task she's been set and then some." Lorne paused before clarifying, "I mean she doesn't exactly excel at everything but she holds her own without complaint."

"Is she insubordinate?" Queried Sheppard.

"No, other than that first day. She knows her place and is quite respectful." He gave a small smile despite himself. "She throws in the odd humours observational comment, but it's not insubordinate."

"Almost sounds like you like her," McKay said with a smirk to which Lorne's frown returned.

"I would not go that far. Fact is I could name ten to twenty soldiers that could do just as good a job as she, maybe even better."

"Yes but do they have 'the Gene'?" Sheppard asked putting down his fork from his main and moving his cake further out of McKay's reach.

"For all the good that's done her," growled Lorne, "She crashed a Jumper."

"That was her!" Exclaimed McKay and then muttered something that sounded like, "No wonder she wanted the working plans of the jumpers.""

Sheppard rolled his eyes already knowing what had happened as he had been there. Besides it was not really a crash more of a drag against the wall. Sheppard however had seen the moment of fear before the accident and the way Jenkins had handled the situation afterward. "And Beckett almost blew up the General and I, he did not turn out so bad." Lorne had to concede that point about their old friend. He still did miss the doc.

Sheppard pressed a hand to his earpiece obviously receiving a message. "Understood I'll be right their Colonel." He snatched up his piece of cake and looked at Lorne. "She's been here four days. I'm sure she'll prove herself soon enough. We've just got to give her a chance or put her in a position where she'll shine."

Lorne sighed. Maybe he was being too tough on Jenkins. "Understood Sir," he replied as Sheppard left the table and the cafeteria. Evan glanced over to Jenkins' table only to see that she too had left the table, he quickly scanned the cafeteria but she must have left that too.

"You keep looking for her like that and people will think you like her," smirked Rodney.

"Shut up McKay," was Lorne's lame comeback as he threw his fork on his tray and got ready to leave.

Authors Notes: I wish to thank everyone for their reviews. I promise not to take so long getting the next part up. I promise there will be some more action in this one ;). Also more about Kayjay's past will be revealed as the story progresses. As always I appreciated constructive critism.


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